Thursday, December 17, 2020

Music History Today: December 18, 2020

December 18, 1943: Rolling Stones guitarist Keith Richards was born in Dartford, Kent, England.

Keith Richards may have mellowed with age, but as anyone who has read his memoir can attest, the iconic Rolling Stones guitarist has raised enough hell to fill several lifetimes. 

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You already know about the time Keith snorted his deceased father’s ashes. But what about when he jumped out of the window of a burning Laurel Canyon house wearing only a “short T-shirt”? Or stayed up for nine straight days during the recording of Some Girls?  

Read more: Rolling Stone

December 18, 1965: Staff Sergeant Barry Sadler records "The Ballad Of The Green Berets."

Ballad of the Green Berets was written and performed by Staff Sergeant Barry Sadler. Sadler was a medic with US Special Forces and arrived in Vietnam with the first deployment of combat troops.  

Staff Sergeant Barry Sadler

In May 1965 Sadler suffered a leg wound from a punji spike daubed in human excrement. He penned Ballad of the Green Berets, a song about his unit, while recovering from the subsequent infection. 
Read more: Alpha History

December 18, 1971:  Sly & The Family Stone had the number one album on the Billboard chart with "There's A Riot Going On." The track "Family Affair" was the Number 1 R&B song for a third week.

“Family Affair,” the single from There’s A Riot Goin’ On and the last Sly & The Family Stone song to hit #1, wasn’t really a Sly & The Family Stone song. Nothing on the album was. 
Desktop Wallpaper Sly Stone


Cellphone Wallpaper Sly Stone

Sly Stone, paranoid and self-isolated, basically made the album himself, without the input of his bandmates. “Family Affair” has vocals from Sly’s sister Rose, and it’s got keyboards from his friend Billy Preston. Sly played everything else himself: vocals, guitar, bass. 
Read more: Stereogum

December 18, 1971: "Three Dog Night's "An Old Fashioned Love Song" was stuck at its peak at Number 4. 

In 1971, Three Dog Night took their own brand of old fashioned love song to the Glen Campbell Goodtime Hour.  

Three Dog Night

Flanked by bandmates Danny Hutton and Cory Wells, singer Chuck Negron gave an all-star performance of ‘An Old Fashioned Love Song’ that makes you remember how great it was to be young and in love in the early 70s. The band manages to be both almost unfairly good looking and just as talented, with Danny Hutton even taking a brief moment to get a little silly and make the rest of the band laugh mid-song.  

Read more: I Love Classic Rock

December 18, 1998: Alice Cooper's Cooperstown restaurant opens in Phoenix featuring "Welcome To My Nightmare" chili. 

After 18 years, Alice Cooper'stown restaurant in downtown Phoenix has closed.

Alice Cooper & Johnny Depp

“We are sad to close Cooper'stown. Thank you to all the loyal staff and patrons. It was a good run,” a restaurant representative confirmed Monday morning in a statement. Alice Cooper, the Hall of Fame rock star and Phoenix resident, was a partner in the restaurant and sports bar at 141 E. Jackson St.  

Read more: In York

Keith Richards
Run, Run Rudolph 

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